This invention relates to a mixing appliance, and particularly relates to a power-operated blender typically used as a kitchen appliance to process foodstuff such as, for example, the mixing of liquids, the blending of solids and liquids, and the liquefying of fruits and vegetables.
Typically, a blender includes a base housing which contains an electric motor. A jar with a lid is positionable on, and usually secured to, a jar mount of the housing and includes a mixing implement which is coupled to a drive shaft of the motor when the jar is positioned on the housing. Various control buttons are located on the exterior of the housing to provide for external control of the motor during the operation of the blender.
In use of the blender, the jar is placed on and typically secured to the jar mount of the base housing and the lid is removed to reveal an opening of the jar. Selected foodstuff is deposited into the jar and the lid is then placed over the opening of the jar. Selected buttons are then manipulated to operate the motor whereby the implement works the foodstuff into a desired blend and consistency. The jar is removed from the housing and the lid is removed to access the blended foodstuff.
In some instances the jar mount is removably attached to the base housing for operation of the blender wherein the jar is typically mountable in single position only with respect to the housing. This single available position of the jar relative to the housing may not be convenient for the user. To accommodate this potential inconvenience, other blenders have been developed in the past which provide a few additional options for selective location of the jar relative to the base housing.
Still other blenders have been developed in the past which have facility for supporting the jar mount in essentially any position on the housing. Examples of this type of blender are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,738, which issued on Jun. 14, 1960, to A. L. A. Posner et. al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,917, which issued on Jul. 7, 1964 to A. E. Elmore.
The blender of U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,738 includes a jar mount which is attached to a jar at the base thereof. The jar mount is formed with a flared skirt which fits over and rests on a circular shoulder formed at the top of a base housing located below the jar mount. The blender of U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,917 includes a base housing which is formed at the top thereof with a bowl-shaped opening having a circular upper edge covered entirely with a resilient material. A jar mount is attached to the bottom of a jar and includes a wall which seats on the resilient material of the circular edge of the opening.
In each of the above-noted patented blenders, a circular area of the underside of the jar mount seats fully on a circular rim at the top of the base housing to support the jar in position for operation of the blender. With this arrangement, the jar mount and the base housing are in full circular-area engagement in a horizontal plane. If the user attempts to rotate the jar mount on the base housing to reposition the jar, considerable frictional forces are encountered which must be overcome before the jar mount, and jar, can be repositioned.
Consequently, there is a need for a mounting arrangement which will permit repositioning of the jar mount on the base housing with relative ease while providing the necessary support of the jar and jar mount on the housing during operation of the blender.
As noted above, blenders typically include control buttons on the exterior thereof to facilitate operational control of the blender. Some examples of switches used in blenders are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,100, which issued on Sep. 23, 1975 to Carl E. Richard et.al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,912, which issued on Oct. 17, 1989 to T. K. Higashiosaka et.al. In the switch actuating structure of each of these patents, the contact element or plunger of the switch is in direct alignment with the actuating button which is depressed by the user of the blender. As such, a relatively high and direct force is required to close the switch.
It is important that such buttons be in a clearly accessible location for user-friendly operation of the blender. It is also important that the buttons, and the facilities which couple the buttons to the switches, provide a firm coupling to the switch for prompt response to the user's depression of the selected button. It is also important that the coupling facilities provide a firm tactile response to the user when the switch has been actuated or deactuated. Additionally, it is important that the depression effort required by the user be accomplished with ease and minimal force.
Therefore, in a blender, there is a need for a switch coupling facility between the selector button and the associated switch which will provide a firm and fast coupling to the switch with relative ease and minimal exertion by the user, and also provide excellent tactile response.